Community Safety
British Community Safety Award Winners 2001
British Community Safety Awards are designed to highlight innovation and best practice in the field of crime reduction. Now in their fifth year, the awards have become part of the crime reduction calendar. The awards are organised by Crime Concern and the 2001 awards were sponsored by Securicor.
The winners in 2001 were:
LOW HILL AND BUSHBURY NEIGHBOURHOOD SAFETY PROJECT (Wolverhampton)
A highly visible, community based project that works in partnership to combat crime and social exclusion. It was set up in response to the Crime and Disorder Act 1998 with the overall aim of engaging the local area in the implementation of action plans and to undertake work to make the solutions sustainable beyond the project life. Over the past three years that the project has been operational, there has been a 41% overall drop in domestic burglary and a 35% drop in overall crime. The project’s success has been attributed to its partnership work which has allowed effective work to flourish.
SAFER PUBS AND CLUBS (Peaks and Dales)
A project that aims to reduce violent crime, the fear of violence and the seriousness of injuries caused as a result of violence in and around licensed premises, namely pubs and clubs. Four licensed premises in the Peaks and Dales area were presented with their Safer Pubs awards based on the following reductions in violent incidents: Burlingtons – 100%; The Eagle – 80%; Olde English – 50% and Brody’s – 100%.
OFFENCE RESOLUTION PROJECT (Hawick, Scotland)
Working towards preventing young people from entering the criminal justice system while at the same time, enabling injured parties of offences to have some input into what happens to offenders and to ensure their views are considered in the resolution of the crime. The project works towards three main aims: to reduce the likelihood of re-offending for those aged 11 – 16 who have committed an offence; to support a resolution between the parties involved in an offence and to offer support to those affected by offending behaviour. Operating as a voluntary process, both the offender and the victim are contacted and asked whether they would be willing to resolve their offence. Depending on the outcome, an appropriate plan is devised with the main focus being that the young person gains an understanding of the consequences of their offence.
JUSTICE SUPPORT PROJECT (Teeside)
Aims to strengthen the skills that young people already possess to help them deal more positively with life’s difficult issues. It is widely accepted that tackling the problem of youth crime impacts very favourably upon all aspects of the life of a community. The strength of this is in its ability to design and directly deliver specialist programmes which address the diversity of children and young people’s issues and which, if it were not for the project, would not exist. Started as a two-year pilot programme in 1993 with a target of a 5% reduction in youth crime, the project has now worked with more than 2500 young offenders achieving a 36% reduction in youth crime.
PROLIFIC OFFENDER PROJECT (Newcastle)
A community–based initiative which targets the most ‘hard-core’ of persistent offenders. The project was originally the brainchild of the local Crime and Community Safety Topic Group of the Newcastle Western Urban Villages Community Partnership SRB. It is made of 95% of people with serious drug misuse problems who largely commit offences to fund their drug habits. All of the offenders must have committed six or more crimes in a 12-month period – one of which must be a serious indictable offence -to be eligible for the six or twelve month programme. Since it began, the prolific offenders team shows that a total of 34 offenders have been on the project of which 17 (57%) have been crime free or have shown a very marked reduction in their offending.
The Prolific Offender Project was selected to go forward to compete in the European Crime Prevention Awards held in December 2001. For further details of the project, contact Steve Stockall, Probation Officer, Tel. 01782 717 074 email steve.stockall@staffordshire.probation.gsx.gov.uk
More Awards
A further five projects were awarded ‘Certificates of Excellence’:
Reducing Burglary (Stoke on Trent)
Past the winning post, Racecourse estate (Houghton le Spring, Northumberland)
Safer Stations (Wandsworth)
Phoenix Project (Sunderland)
Youth Matters (Lincoln)
And four received 'Certificates of Commendation':
Safer Scotland (Scotland)
Domestic Violence Support (Gloucester)
Trends (Blandford)
Kids on Track (Durham)
Last update: 02/09/03